Blue White Illustrated

R uss Rose won't talk about it. He'll politely answer a question on the subject, of course, but in his reply, he'll make it clear that he's not interested in discussing or even considering the sig- nificance of a personal statistical milestone. Volleyball is a team sport, and he's not even one of the people out there playing it. To spend time thinking about a number, let alone talking about it – well, certainly we've all got better things to do. Even if that number is the most wins of any coach in the history of women's col- lege volleyball. At press time, Rose's 1,141 career vic- tories at Penn State placed him one ahead of Hawaii's Dave Shoji on the all-time list. Shoji is in the midst of his 40th season with the Rainbow Wahine; Rose is in his 36th season and, at 60, is seven years younger than his counterpart in Honolulu. He's also got his program hum- ming at such a level that annual Final Four berths seem almost predestined. As such, it's easy to assume the record will be Rose's upon retirement, and probably forever after. It's not crazy to assume that he might find this pretty cool. "I would love to give you something," Salima Rockwell said, "but honestly, it isn't about that for him." Rockwell has known Rose for a quarter century, first as a recruit and player (back when she was three-time All-America setter Salima Davidson) and now as the Nittany Lions' associate head coach. As a player and as- V A R S I T Y V I E W S TEAM SPIRIT Rose hits milestone but keeps focus on players | WRESTLING Molinaro returns as assistant coach Frank Molinaro, a four-time All- American and 2012 NCAA champion at 149 pounds, has returned to his alma mater. After spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for Rut- gers, Molinaro returned to State Col- lege in April to begin training for the 2016 Olympics as a resident athlete with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. On Sept. 30, however, Penn State announced that he had been promot- ed to assistant coach and will be in the Nittany Lions' corner for the 2014-15 season. A native of Barnegat, N.J., Molinaro has one of the more accomplished ca- reers in school history. In addition to his four All-America citations and national championship, he won two Big Ten titles and qualified for the NCAA finals in back-to-back sea- sons. With a 121-29 collegiate record, Molinaro ranks 10th on Penn State's all-time wins list and 11th on the all- time matches-wrestled list. He is tied for seventh on Penn State's NCAA tournament win list with 17. After his final season, Molinaro was hired by his home-state Scarlet Knights. During his two-year stay, he had vital role in coaching 157-pound Anthony Perrotti, who became the program's first All-American in 12 years. Perrotti finished eighth in March in Oklahoma City. Molinaro will continue training with the NLWC for a spot on the U.S. National Freestyle team, in addition to handling his assistant coaching duties. He fills the vacancy left by former assistant coach Nick Fanthor- pe. Molinaro is married to Kera (Bolen) Molinaro, a graduate of Oregon State, who is now an assistant with the Penn State women's gymnastics team. – T.O. WINNING WAYS Rose, who is in his 36th season at Penn State, recently passed Hawaii's Dave Shoji to become the win- ningest coach in women's college volley- ball history. Photo by Patrick Mansell

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